Maia Jackman, a 50-cap Football Fern and SKY Television Fifa World Cup 2019 pundit, breaks down Group B.
For in-depth team-by-team previews, click on the links below.
GROUP B
Germany are the world’s No. 2 ranked team, so I’d expect them to top Group B. But Spain and China have both been doing very well lately.
A powerhouse of the women’s game in the ’80s and ’90s, China had a quite a lull there for a while, but they are enjoying a renaissance with an exciting crop of young players coming through.
They really pushed the United States in a match last year, so they could really cause some teams problems in France. But if Germany stick to their game plan – which is very attacking – they’ll be hard to beat. That said, they aren’t as strong defensively as some of the other top teams.
Spain are playing in just their second World Cup – but they have really come on since making their debut in Canada four years ago. They were dominant in qualifying and have had a lot of success at junior level. Spain doesn’t have a strong domestic league so they lack depth, but they do have that typical Spanish flair that can upset a lot of teams.
South Africa are making their debut at the World Cup, so they’ll come in and show plenty of guts and determination. They won’t want to be just making up the numbers.
They’ve got a really good coach who has done a great job in getting them to the World Cup – but it would be a surprise if they qualified from a group in which they’ll face three extremely strong opponents.
All Fifa Women’s World Cup 2019 matches will be live on SKY Sport, beginning June 8.
